Taylor, Whitson talk about Snow Hill issues

Sunday

With Election Day around the corner, five candidates are running for three seats on the town commission board in Snow Hill.

With Election Day around the corner, five candidates are running for three seats on the town commission board in Snow Hill.

While incumbent mayor Dennis Lyles is running unopposed, Rebecca Scarborough, Pat Shackleford, Bobby Taylor, Roger Whitson and Rosa Wilkes are all hoping to win a position on the town council. Scarborough, Shackleford and Taylor are incumbents, with Whitson and Wilkes looking to unseat at least one of them for the opportunity.

Each candidate was asked three questions about Snow Hill and how to improve the community. Multiple attempts to contact Scarbourough, Shackleford and Wilkes were unsuccessful.

What do you see as the most important issue facing candidates in Snow Hill this year?

Bobby Taylor (Town commissioner 2009-Present)

I don’t really think there’s one particularly major issue because everything is running so smooth right now. We just need to keep progressing and moving forward like we’ve been doing. As far as things I’d like to see worked on, property taxes are high on my priority list. We’ve been doing so good and have an abundance of revenue in our general fund, so we should be able to drop the property tax. Of course, water is always an issue.

Roger Whitson (Social Studies teacher at Greene County Middle School)

Integrity, ability and a vision for the town we can coherently pass on to others. Four years ago, Snow Hill was on the verge of bankruptcy, but because of the efforts of Bobby Taylor, Rebecca Scarborough, Dennis Lyles, Laura O’Brien and myself, we managed to avoid state takeover of administration in community. Now is the time for this town to do what other communities in the area are doing such as Kinston, Grifton, Greenville, which is public/private partnerships to bring a business and economic renaissance.

What would you do to spur economic development in Snow Hill?

Taylor: I would concentrate on the recreation in the town and in Greene County. I would like to use recreation and run with it, using the idea that we’re about 20 miles from everything and have space. This way, we could solicit businesses, rather than waiting for them to give us a call.

Whitson: We have to work on building the community and finding things such as light, manufacturing and agriculture, which is viable in Eastern North Carolina. Snow Hill has the resources to do it, if we have vision and leadership to make it happen.

How will you get the youth involved in the revitalization of Snow Hill?

Taylor: We can help the parks and recreation program by promoting their events to get the youth involved. The town has already been committed to helping the youth get involved. One example is voting to have the future Boys and Girls Club here in Greene County. Although it will be 3 to 4 miles from the city limits, we’ve already committed to assist with the process.

Whitson: I feel like the youth have been involved. My son, at 14 years old, developed the skate park here. We have rec league events and I know the level of involvement community has. Many committees on a government level are always looking for young people to assist, come up with ideas, and help implement and facilitate them. I know from personal experience the youth can make a difference.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

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